Chapter 749: The Great War Begins, Konoha Takes the Initiative
As the Ōtsutsuki clan gathered in their alternate dimension, in Konoha, inside the Hokage's office, Naruto looked at the report in his hands. The issue of the vanguard ninja force on the Sand Village front: total annihilation! Moreover, even Hiruzen Sarutobi had been killed. To be able to directly kill Hiruzen Sarutobi meant that the opponent's strength was absolutely at a crushing level. To achieve this, it meant that the Hidden Sand Village must have deployed at least five Kazekage.
However, if the Hidden Sand Village deployed five Kazekage, it meant they had already made up their minds. This was the situation Naruto least wanted to see. If the Hidden Sand Village was determined to go to war with Konoha, then it meant the other villages had probably already made their preparations as well.
"Naruto!" Shikamaru called out, reminding the dazed Naruto. Now was not the time to be spacing out. They had to think of a way out! Otherwise, this would be a disaster.
Naruto looked up at Sasuke, who was sitting quietly in the corner. In the past, Sasuke would not have attended such meetings, but this time he had come voluntarily. Although he sat in the corner and didn't plan to say anything, this undoubtedly sent a message to Naruto: if there were any missions, Sasuke could also help.
With Sasuke's help, the pressure of the Fifth Great Ninja War was not so great for Naruto.
"The Hidden Sand Village has already decided to launch an all-out war with Konoha!" Naruto looked at the people in the conference room. "I think the other villages have probably also made up their minds!"
"At this time, if Konoha is still hesitant, then in the end, it will only be Konoha that suffers!"
He recalled what Sasuke had said before. There was only one way to bring true peace to the shinobi world: unification! Only by unifying the shinobi world would there be no Five Great Shinobi Countries, and such things would not happen again. At most, there would only be minor frictions, not such large-scale wars at the drop of a hat.
"Naruto, have you really thought it through?" Shikamaru was a little hesitant now. He didn't know what would happen if a truly comprehensive war broke out. The final winner would not necessarily be Konoha, because there were too many issues involved. And on the side, there was the Ōtsutsuki clan, watching like a tiger eyeing its prey. They were the truly terrifying ones.
However, the other ninja nations seemed to have tacitly accepted their existence, showing no intention of getting involved. And the target of these Ōtsutsuki was indeed only them. The other ninja villages were not within the Ōtsutsuki's target range. Konoha was uniquely blessed and at the same time had the Tailed Beasts. The other ninja villages did not. So they didn't have to worry about the Ōtsutsuki clan attacking them.
"You are the Kage of this era. How the era moves forward is up to you to decide!" At this time, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, looked at Naruto. "No matter what this decision is, if you have truly decided, then you must implement it steadfastly!"
Hearing this, Naruto was taken aback. "Thank you, Lord First Hokage!"
As he spoke, Naruto looked at the people in the Hokage's office. "Then let's go to all-out war!"
"Shikamaru, your previous plan was too conservative!"
"I want a more proactive plan. Although it's a Great Ninja War, it doesn't have to be the other ninja villages attacking us. It should be our Konoha attacking the other ninja villages!"
The way Naruto looked now was as if he was saying, "I, Konoha, will take on all four!"
Seeing Naruto like this, Shikamaru, on the contrary, no longer had any hesitation. This change made the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, beside him, a little unable to understand. Shikamaru! This person was clearly a very smart ninja. Although his strength might not be outstanding, his mind was very good. But such a sharp-minded ninja, who should have been very assertive, seemed very hesitant about any choice. Perhaps because he was too smart, he had more ideas and didn't know which one to use.
And Naruto, as the Hokage, helped Shikamaru decide the direction. Then Shikamaru's mind came into play. The combination of these two managing Konoha was simply like adding wings to a tiger.
"Since we are to take the initiative, we must mobilize a large number of ninja!"
"The number of ninja Konoha can mobilize now is around three million. This number is very large."
"And the numbers are also Konoha's biggest advantage!" As he spoke, Shikamaru began to analyze the situation of the four great ninja villages.
First was the current Hidden Sand Village. Its strength was ranked third. Stronger than the Sand was the Mist Village, and the second was the Cloud Village. The last was the Stone Village. The reason was also very simple. In terms of top-tier combat power, the Stone Village was at the biggest disadvantage because they only had the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Tsuchikage—only four Kage-level ninja.
And the Sand Village? They had a full five Kage-level ninja. And in a great ninja war, the abilities of the Sand Village's Kazekage were more suitable for large-scale battles. The Tsuchikage's ninjutsu, on the other hand, could accidentally injure their own people, so they wouldn't gain much of an advantage.
"Since we are to attack proactively, then we must start by dealing with the strongest!" As he spoke, Shikamaru looked up. "Lord First Hokage and Lord Second Hokage, you will be responsible for leading a ninja force of one million to attack the Cloud Village!"
Hashirama and Tobirama looked at each other. "Us?"
"Why arrange for us? If we want to defeat the Cloud Village at the fastest speed, then it should be..." As he spoke, Tobirama glanced at Sasuke.
Sasuke looked up at Tobirama: "There are probably stronger enemies waiting for me!"
Hearing this, Shikamaru also said directly: "That is indeed the case. Sasuke, your ability can instantly transport you to various battlefields, so if possible, I hope to use your ability to move Konoha's main forces, which can facilitate us in making more flexible changes!"
He understood. He was being used as a transport tool! He never thought he would end up as a transport tool.
Hashirama and Tobirama both nodded. Indeed, Sasuke's ability was very suitable for this job, and more flexible troop movement would have a huge impact on the entire battlefield. The two of them were more satisfied with Shikamaru's arrangement.
In fact, besides transporting ninja forces, more importantly, Sasuke was a bomb. And such a deterrent weapon, of course, should not be revealed at the first hand. It was to make the Ōtsutsuki in the dark feel wary. If Sasuke didn't make a move, these Ōtsutsuki probably wouldn't dare to act rashly. After all, they didn't know when Sasuke would appear at what location. Deterrence was another role for Sasuke, and in Shikamaru's view, this role was even more important.
"Next is the Mist Village. Lord Ashura, you will deal with them!"
Just as he was speaking, a member of the Uchiha clan suddenly burst into the Hokage's office. Seeing the Uchiha clan member appear, Shikamaru thought of an even better idea, but at the same time, he noticed that the other person's expression was not good.
"Lord Sasuke!"
"The current clan head, Lord Itachi Uchiha... he... he's dead... missing!"
Missing! Sasuke instantly stood up. The moment his eyes opened, the air around seemed to freeze!
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